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Whenever Raven lowered his mask and waved his wings four times over an image, it came to life. For the Eskimo, Raven created life, then empowered it through a cycle of transcendental change, learning and transfiguration, death and renewal. the process of transformation was centered in shamanism. An example of a Central Yup'ik mask with such a transformative aspect is in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at Berkeley, California. The face behind the beak is not only an inua, or soul, but a human counterpart. The transformation is implied, rather than demonstrated by elements that actually open and close, as in the case of some Northwest Coast masks. Here the back-and-forthing between bird and human guises was shared by the bird and its inua (soul), with the dancing angalkuq (shaman) as intercessor.
The Thaw Raven mask is a masterpiece of the genre. While its ceremonial power cannot be ignored, its carving is also magnificent, expressed by the beady eyes and tricky tooth smile-at once human, animal, and avian. The history of this Doolagiak mask and the Walrus Spirit Mask appear to at first to be different and unrelated. The Walrus Spirit Mask was collected by Adam Twitchell, and is said to be one of a pair and part of a set of thirty-four pairs of masks made for annual dance ceremonies. Both are from the same village and appear to be similar in coloration, style, and execution, despite different subject and design.
Chuna McIntyre has noted that the rings around the mask are called ellanguq. Ella simultaneously refers to our consciousness or awareness, air, earth, sky, and universe. And nguq means that which represents. Generally the full rings around the mask represent as being stationary, peeping through its own consciousness or awareness. A mask with partial rings is moving or kinetic, forming a ripple in its own universe. There are lunar implications in the white-colored rings around the raven's eyes and the crescent that forms in the mouth. Raven and caribou symbolism are also combined in the mask. The Raven appears in the mask in three forms. First, the face seems to dominate the entire mask. Second, the full form of Raven is present, appearing in the tripartite extensions at the top, which refer to the Raven's legs and his triangular-shaped tail in between. The wings extend on either side and the beak is now read as the entire Raven's head with the beak's nostrils transformed into eyes. In its third appearance, the Raven's grinning mouth is seen as a bird that is flying straight ahead with wings outstretched. Caribou symbolism found in the antlers at the top of the mask, the ears at the side, and the raven's eyes, which double for caribou nostrils. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Moon Dancers: Yup'ik Masks and the Surrealists," The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ, April 26, 2018 - June 29, 2018.
ProvenanceAdam Hollis Twitchell, Bethel, Alaska; Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (9/3433), New York City, 1919; Julius Carlebach, New York City; Isabel Waldberg, New York City; Merton Simpson, New York City; Andre Nasser, New York City
BibliographyFurst, Peter T. and Jill L. Furst. Native American Indian Art. New York: Rizzoli, 1982, p.15, pl.136, Private Collection.
Rousselot, Jean-Loup. Masque Eskimo d"Alaska. Switzerland: Editions Amez, 1991, p.117.
Vincent, Gilbert T. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." The Magazine Antiques. Vol CXLVIII, no. 1, (July 1995): p.64, pl.III.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.91.
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. The Living Tradition of Yuo'ik Masks. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996, p.265.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.437.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 488.
Culture
Central Yup'ik
Raven Mask
Datec. 1875
DimensionsOverall: 15 1/2 × 25 1/4 × 8 in. (39.4 × 64.1 × 20.3 cm)
Object numberT0232
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe importance of the mythic Raven to the religion of the Bering Sea Eskimo is hard to overstate, particularly in the Kuskokwim-Yukon riverine, delta, and coastal areas where about a quarter of the Indigenous population lives. Through the principle of transformation, Raven related man to nature and enabled him to prosper. Raven then provided the first man with berries, mountain sheep, caribou, and a companion-woman-followed by fish, birds, and other animals. Raven also taught man to hunt and instructed the first couple in the care of their child. Finally, Raven created the bear, which limited man's disorderly and destructive conduct.Whenever Raven lowered his mask and waved his wings four times over an image, it came to life. For the Eskimo, Raven created life, then empowered it through a cycle of transcendental change, learning and transfiguration, death and renewal. the process of transformation was centered in shamanism. An example of a Central Yup'ik mask with such a transformative aspect is in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at Berkeley, California. The face behind the beak is not only an inua, or soul, but a human counterpart. The transformation is implied, rather than demonstrated by elements that actually open and close, as in the case of some Northwest Coast masks. Here the back-and-forthing between bird and human guises was shared by the bird and its inua (soul), with the dancing angalkuq (shaman) as intercessor.
The Thaw Raven mask is a masterpiece of the genre. While its ceremonial power cannot be ignored, its carving is also magnificent, expressed by the beady eyes and tricky tooth smile-at once human, animal, and avian. The history of this Doolagiak mask and the Walrus Spirit Mask appear to at first to be different and unrelated. The Walrus Spirit Mask was collected by Adam Twitchell, and is said to be one of a pair and part of a set of thirty-four pairs of masks made for annual dance ceremonies. Both are from the same village and appear to be similar in coloration, style, and execution, despite different subject and design.
Chuna McIntyre has noted that the rings around the mask are called ellanguq. Ella simultaneously refers to our consciousness or awareness, air, earth, sky, and universe. And nguq means that which represents. Generally the full rings around the mask represent as being stationary, peeping through its own consciousness or awareness. A mask with partial rings is moving or kinetic, forming a ripple in its own universe. There are lunar implications in the white-colored rings around the raven's eyes and the crescent that forms in the mouth. Raven and caribou symbolism are also combined in the mask. The Raven appears in the mask in three forms. First, the face seems to dominate the entire mask. Second, the full form of Raven is present, appearing in the tripartite extensions at the top, which refer to the Raven's legs and his triangular-shaped tail in between. The wings extend on either side and the beak is now read as the entire Raven's head with the beak's nostrils transformed into eyes. In its third appearance, the Raven's grinning mouth is seen as a bird that is flying straight ahead with wings outstretched. Caribou symbolism found in the antlers at the top of the mask, the ears at the side, and the raven's eyes, which double for caribou nostrils. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Moon Dancers: Yup'ik Masks and the Surrealists," The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ, April 26, 2018 - June 29, 2018.
ProvenanceAdam Hollis Twitchell, Bethel, Alaska; Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (9/3433), New York City, 1919; Julius Carlebach, New York City; Isabel Waldberg, New York City; Merton Simpson, New York City; Andre Nasser, New York City
BibliographyFurst, Peter T. and Jill L. Furst. Native American Indian Art. New York: Rizzoli, 1982, p.15, pl.136, Private Collection.
Rousselot, Jean-Loup. Masque Eskimo d"Alaska. Switzerland: Editions Amez, 1991, p.117.
Vincent, Gilbert T. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." The Magazine Antiques. Vol CXLVIII, no. 1, (July 1995): p.64, pl.III.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.91.
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. The Living Tradition of Yuo'ik Masks. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996, p.265.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.437.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 488.
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